To maximize efficient use of labor and fuel in the ground freight industry, independent truckers and trucking companies are constantly in search of loads to minimize financial loss due to unwanted transportation of an empty truck. A return trip of an empty truck or any empty leg of a multiple-point haul is costly in terms of fuel and labor. In the logging industry, empty return trips are common due to an inability of prior art logging trailers to carry any load other than cut timber. Prior art logging trailers typically transport cut timber to sawmills. Due to the construction of prior art logging trailers having fixed bunks, prior art logging trailers are unable to haul wood residuals or another type of load.
For a number of reasons, global wood residual production has increased dramatically. Primary timber processing mills in the United States generate an abundance of wood residuals in the form of bark, sawmill slabs, edgings, sawdust, peeler cores, and wood chips. Primary timber processing generates an estimated 30.3 million tons of bark and 86.7 million tons of other wood residues annually. Wood residual production has also increased from other sources such as municipal solid waste and waste generated from construction, repair, and demolition debris.
Nearly all wood residuals are used to produce other products, primarily paper, non-structural panels, and fuel. It is expected that the amount of wood residues produced yearly will continue to increase due to the changing character of global timber production and advances in engineering that are constantly providing new uses for wood residuals. The nature of wood resources globally is changing towards smaller trees and non-traditional species of trees or genetically modified species that are generally considered to be less desirable for traditional lumber production. Accordingly, engineering advances over recent years have increased the ability for wood residuals to be formed into buildable lumber products usable for construction. Due to the increased production and demand for wood residuals, there exists a need for apparatuses and methods that can facilitate the transportation of both whole cut timber and wood residuals such as bark, chips, and the like.
The changing character of global forest resources and the movement towards smaller trees has also rendered prior art methods for preparing a load of cut timber cumbersome and inefficient. For example, stands of timber harvested in recent years have become more diverse in log size and species, creating load weights that are difficult to estimate. Logs of varying diameter and length must be transported with greater frequency. Smaller trees and different species in a given stand of timber to be harvested may need to be sorted and thereafter, the sorted logs may need to be transported to different locales. Sorting and transportation to a variety of locales has created a need for methods and apparatuses that can provide flexibility relating to how loads of cut timber are prepared for transportation. Transportation companies may wish to pre-load cut timber in sorted piles for transportation at some later date, in rhythm with trucking capacity. Furthermore, variable log sizes and species create a need for methods and apparatuses that can accurately weigh loads to be transported to match truck and trailer capacity such that the load can be maximized within legal limits, and that a single haul of cut timber is sufficiently full to maximize overall value of the trip. Accordingly, there exists a need for apparatuses and methods permitting the pre-bunking of cut timber and accurate weighing of the load prior to placement on a logging truck's trailer.